Percussion Information

Marc Zoutendijk

The Rudiment Combinator
Here is the Rudiment Combinator. A handy way of notating some interesting combinations of rudiments. I have combined the following rudiments: R3 = Triple Stroke (RLL or RRL) Rx = x-stroke roll (x = 3,5,7,9,6,8) PD = Paradiddle 2PD = Double Paradiddle 3PD = Triple Paradiddle FT = Flam Tap FAC = Flam Accent You see those rudiments on the top-line and the left column of the great matrix below. Select any square on the intersection of any two rudiments you like and start to play. For some of the combinations you can extend them by repeating one of the parts. E.g. the R3-PD combination: RLL RLL RLL RLRR LRR LRR LRR LRLL This should be played in 16ths in 4/4, leading to an interesting "over the barline" shift. Give it a try! For more ideas, see below the table.						Some remarks: All the stroke rolls can be either started or ended with their respective accents. So the combination of a Paradiddle and a Five Stroke Roll has two forms: RLRR LRRLL RLRR LLRRL In the last case we have two accents in a row when we repeat the combination. For all the exercises you should try to play them in straight triplets or sixteenths without any stops in between. Let your hi-hat play on "2" and "4" or straigth "4s" This means that all the exercises with a number of notes thats don't fit evenly in a 4/4 bar, will shift accros the barline! Also you might try to play certain combinations in other time-signatures. E.g. the combination above is 9 notes long. If you play this as 8th note triplets it will fill one 3/4 bar. The combination of the 5 and 6 stroke roll will nicely fit in a 11/16 bar! But two fives and one sixer give a decent 4/4 bar.

	R3	R5	R7	R9	R6	R8	PD	2PD	3PD	FT	FAC
R3	R3-R3	R3-R5	R3-R7	R3-R9	R3-R6	R3-R8	R3-PD	R3-2PD	R3-3PD	R3-FT	R3-FAC
R5	R5-R3	R5-R5	R5-R7	R5-R9	R5-R6	R5-R8	R5-PD	R5-2PD	R5-3PD	R5-FT	R5-FAC
R7	R7-R3	R7-R5	R7-R7	R7-R9	R7-R6	R7-R8	R7-PD	R7-2PD	R7-3PD	R7-FT	R7-FAC
R9	R9-R3	R9-R5	R9-R7	R9-R9	R9-R6	R9-R8	R9-PD	R9-2PD	R9-3PD	R9-FT	R9-FAC
R6	R6-R3	R6-R5	R6-R7	R6-R9	R6-R6	R6-R8	R6-PD	R6-2PD	R6-3PD	R6-FT	R6-FAC
R8	R8-R3	R8-R5	R8-R7	R8-R9	R8-R6	R8-R8	R8-PD	R8-2PD	R8-3PD	R8-FT	R8-FAC
PD	PD-R3	PD-R5	PD-R7	PD-R9	PD-R6	PD-R8	PD-PD	PD-2PD	PD-3PD	PD-FT	PD-FAC
2PD	2PD-R3	2PD-R5	2PD-R7	2PD-R9	2PD-R6	2PD-R8	2PD-PD	2PD-2PD	2PD-3PD	2PD-FT	2PD-FAC
3PD	3PD-R3	3PD-R5	3PD-R7	3PD-R9	3PD-R6	3PD-R8	3PD-PD	3PD-2PD	3PD-3PD	3PD-FT	3PD-FAC
FT	FT-R3	FT-R5	FT-R7	FT-R9	FT-R6	FT-R8	FT-PD	FT-2PD	FT-3PD	FT-FT	FT-FAC
FAC	FAC-R3	FAC-R5	FAC-R7	FAC-R9	FAC-R6	FAC-R8	FAC-PD	FAC-2PD	FAC-3PD	FAC-FT	FAC-FAC

You can of course "color" the exercises by playing the accents on the tomtoms. But more demanding of course is the incorporation of your bassdrum in these licks, by using it to reinforce the accents that your accenting hand is playing on a cymbal. The Triplestroke can (like the other rolls) be played with the accent at the end: RRL RRL RRL I have set up a whole page to all kinds of Triple Strokes: The Endless Tripestroke Generator.						To prevent shifting over the barline of those exercises that don't fit into the chosen timesignature, you can always adjust the rhythm of one (or more) parts. E.g. 3 x PD and 1 x R6: RLRR LRLL RLRR LLRRLR LRLL RLRR LRLL RRLLRL Play the PD in 16th's and the R6 as a sextuplet so the whole thing fits nicely in your favourite 4/4 bar!

Now I'll show you some smaller rudiment combinator matrices:

The Flamatrix

FT = Flam Tap
FAC = Flam Accent
FQ = Flamacue
FPD = Flamadiddle
ST = Swiss Flam Triple (lRRL or rLLR)

	FT	FAC	FQ	FPD	SF
FT	FT-FT	FT-FAC	FT-FQ	FT-FPD	FT-SF
FAC	FAC-FT	FAC-FAC	FAC-FQ	FAC-FPD	FAC-SF
FQ	FQ-FT	FQ-FAC	FQ-FQ	FQ-FPD	FQ-SF
FPD	FPD-FT	FPD-FAC	FPD-FQ	FPD-FPD	FPD-SF
SF	SF-FT	SF-FAC	SF-FQ	SF-FPD	SF-SF

The Diddle Matrix

	PD	2PD	3PD	PDD
PD	PD-PD	PD-2PD	PD-3PD	PD-PDD
2PD	2PD-PD	2PD-2PD	2PD-3PD	2PD-PDD
3PD	3PD-PD	3PD-2PD	3PD-3PD	3PD-PDD
PDD	PDD-PD	PDD-2PD	PDD-3PD	PDD-PDD

The Roll Matrix

	R5	R7	R9	R6	R8	R10
R5	R5-R5	R5-R7	R5-R9	R5-R6	R5-R8	R5-R10
R7	R7-R5	R7-R7	R7-R9	R7-R6	R7-R8	R7-R10
R9	R9-R5	R9-R7	R9-R9	R9-R6	R9-R8	R9-R10
R6	R6-R5	R6-R7	R6-R9	R6-R6	R6-R8	R6-R10
R8	R8-R5	R8-R7	R8-R9	R8-R6	R8-R8	R8-R10
R10	R10-R5	R10-R7	R10-R9	R10-R6	R10-R8	R10-R10

Go to the Download page for more exercises.